Dear Friends, 

Welcome to the Columbus Symphony’s 75th anniversary season. 

For 75 years, this orchestra has brought people together through music. Generations of musicians have taken the stage, generations of audiences have filled our halls, and countless people throughout Central Ohio have made the Columbus Symphony part of their lives. Some of you have been with us for decades. For others, this may be your very first concert. Wherever you are in your relationship with the Symphony, I’m so glad you are here. 

There is something extraordinary about live music: no two performances are ever exactly the same. What happens in the concert hall is created in real time by the musicians onstage and by all of us who have chosen to gather and listen. For a few hours, we can put aside our to-do lists and our worries and experience something together that will never happen in exactly the same way again. 

That feels especially meaningful during an anniversary season. Seventy-five years gives us an opportunity to celebrate the remarkable people who built this orchestra and the community that has sustained it, while also looking ahead with tremendous excitement. The Columbus Symphony has an extraordinary future before it, and we are thinking boldly about how we can serve this growing and dynamic community for the next 75 years. 

Most of all, though, this season is about the music. I hope you will come often — to hear something you already love, to discover something completely new, to bring someone who has never experienced the Symphony before, or simply to spend an evening being surprised by what music can make you feel. 

Thank you for being part of the Columbus Symphony. When you see me at a concert, please stop and say hello. One of my favorite parts of this work is hearing what brought people to the Symphony and what keeps bringing them back. 

Here’s to 75 years — and to everything still ahead. 

Maureen O'Brien,
Chief Executive Officer

Dear Friends, 

Welcome to another inspiring year of music as the Columbus Symphony begins our 2026-27 Cardinal Health Masterworks season! And what a special season it will be – this year, our orchestra is celebrating our 75th anniversary, and we intend to make it a birthday to remember.

On Sept. 18 and 19, our season kicks off with the crack of a whip in Bulgarian-British composer Dobrinka Tabakova’s Orpheus’ Comet, which she fittingly calls a “celebration for orchestra.” We’ll also perform Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, which provides a virtuosic turn for nearly every instrument, highlighting the talent and artistry of our Columbus Symphony musicians. And we welcome Eva Gevorgyan for a thrilling performance of Rachmaninoff’s challenging Third Piano Concerto.

One of our favorite violinists, Aubree Oliverson, makes a return visit on Oct. 2 and 3 to perform Dvorák’s virtuosic Violin Concerto. We begin this performance with a Serenade by the pioneering African American composer William Grant Still, and conclude it with Brahms’ radiant Second Symphony. 

Join us to hear a world premiere on Oct. 23 and 24 as we unveil Gregory Spears’ The Mysteries, commissioned by the Columbus Symphony to honor our 75th anniversary. Superstar bass-baritone Davóne Tines sings his Concerto No. 2: ANTHEM, a unique collaborative work that examines and reimagines our national anthem and other American songs, and we finish with Tchaikovsky’s fateful Fifth Symphony that begins in the depths of despair but concludes victoriously. (We’re also excited to bring this program to New York’s Carnegie Hall on Oct. 28!)

Finally, on Nov. 20 and 21, the powerful voices of the Columbus Symphony Chorus join a quartet of guest soloists for Verdi’s monumental Requiem. You won’t want to miss this extraordinary work by the master of Italian opera. 

On behalf of our Columbus Symphony family, thank you for being here tonight – now, let the music move you!

Rossen Milanov,
Music Director

Mr. Milanov has established himself as a conductor with considerable national and international presence. Past positions include Music Director of Symphony Orchestra of Bulgarian National Radio, New Symphony Orchestra in Sofia, Symphony in C in New Jersey, Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias (OSPA) in Spain, and Chief Conductor of the Slovenian RTV Orchestra in Ljubljana. Nationally he has appeared with the Colorado, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Baltimore, Seattle, and Fort Worth Symphonies, and National Symphony  Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, Link-Up education projects with Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and with the Civic Orchestra in Chicago.

Internationally, he has collaborated with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra de la Suisse Romand, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Aalborg, Latvian, and Hungarian National Symphony Orchestras and the orchestras in Toronto, Vancouver, KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic in South Africa, Mexico, Colombia, Sao Paolo, Belo Horizonte, and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. In the Far East he has appeared with NHK, Sapporo, Tokyo, Singapore Symphonies, Hyogo Performing Arts Center, Malaysian, and Hong Kong Philharmonics. Mr. Milanov has collaborated with some of the world’s preeminent artists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Renée Fleming, Midori, Christian Tetzlaff, Hilary Hahn, Dawn Upshaw, and André Watts among many others. 

During his eleven-year tenure with The Phiadelphia Orchestra, Milanov conducted more than 200 performances. In 2015, he completed a 15-year tenure as Music Director of the nationally recognized training orchestra Symphony in C in New Jersey and in 2013 a 17-year  tenure with the New Symphony Orchestra in his native city of Sofia, Bulgaria. His passion for new music has resulted in numerous world premieres of works by composers such as Derek Bermel, Mason Bates, Caroline Shaw, Philip Glass, Richard Danielpour, Nicolas Maw, and Gabriel Prokofiev, among others.

Noted for his versatility, Milanov is also a welcomed presence in the worlds of opera and ballet.  He has collaborated with Komische Oper Berlin (Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtzensk), Opera Oviedo with the Spanish premiere of Tchaikovsky’s Mazzepa and Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle (awarded best Spanish production for 2015), Opera Columbus (Verdi’s La Traviata, Aida, Rigoletto, and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin). At The Princeton Festival he conducted productions of Britten’s Albert Herring, Derrick Wang’s Scalia/Ginsburg, and Rossini’s Barber of Seville. 

An experienced ballet conductor, he has been seen at New York City Ballet and collaborated with some of the best known choreographers of our time such as Mats Ek, Benjamin Millepied, and most recently Alexei Ratmansky in the critically acclaimed revival of Swan Lake in Zurich with Zurich Ballet and in Paris with La Scala Ballet.

Under his leadership the Columbus Symphony has expanded its reach by connecting original programing with community-wide initiatives such as focusing on women composers, nature conservancy, presenting original festivals, and supporting and commissioning new music. In Princeton under his leadership the orchestra has established an excellent artistic reputation and has been recognized for its innovation and vital role in the community. Since 2022, Rossen Milanov is also the Music Director of The Princeton Festival. 

Rossen Milanov studied conducting at the Bulgarian Music Academy, Tanglewood Music Center, Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and The Juilliard School in New York, where he received the Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship.

Mr. Milanov is an avid biker. A passionate chef, he often dedicates his culinary talents to various charities.

Rossen Milanov is a former scholarship recipient and current board member of Cyril and Methodius Foundation in Bulgaria.

Stephen Caracciolo is the Chorus Director of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, preparing the CSO Chorus for appearances in the Masterworks concert series and conducting community performances of the CSO Chamber Choir. Dr. Caracciolo is a conductor recognized for his passionate artistry and creative leadership in interpreting an expansive range of the choral repertoire, including choral-orchestral works, Renaissance and Baroque motets, German-Romantic part songs, French chansons, the sacred literature of the English and Russian churches, opera choruses, American folk songs and spirituals, and works by living composers.

For twelve years he was a professional choral bass at Washington National Cathedral where he also served as the cover conductor for masses, choral evenings, and special services. He has performed choral masterworks with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Juilliard Orchestra, the American Symphony, and the orchestra of Washington National Cathedral with such renowned conductors as Robert Shaw, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Kurt Masur, Erich Kunzel, Michael McCarthy, and James Levine.

Known nationally as a composer and arranger, Caracciolo’s choral works are performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe. He is a composer with MorningStar Music Publishers, E.C. Schirmer, Kjos Music, and Roger Dean Publishing, and is active as a consultant for various educational, ecclesiastical, and professional organizations.

His publications—including commissions for the acclaimed professional vocal ensemble, Cantus—appear on numerous professional, collegiate, and cathedral repertoire lists, and may be heard on nationally distributed recordings as well as syndicated radio broadcasts including the well-known Sunday program, With Heart and Voice.

Dr. Caracciolo concurrently serves as Artistic Director of ProArteOHIO, Central Ohio’s premier professional vocal ensemble. Under his leadership, the ensemble consistently garners high praise for its beauty of tone, remarkable blend, and exceptional commitment to elegant text phrasing. Previous conducting posts include the Maryland Choral Society and choral ensembles at the University of Maryland-Baltimore, Roberts Wesleyan College, the Ohio University School of Music, and Denison University. Caracciolo holds a doctoral degree in conducting from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, a master’s degree in conducting from Westminster Choir College, and a bachelor’s degree in music education from the Capital University Conservatory of Music.